A collection of impressive British talent has been confirmed for this spring’s Edinburgh International Swim Meet slated for March 11-13th at the Royal Commonwealth Pool Edinburgh. The Scottish Amateur Swimming Association East District (SASA) is partnering with the University of Edinburgh to present this year’s edition of the annual event, a production which hosted swimmers from over 21 different countries last year.
Among the list of British Swimming national athletes expected to attend include:
Aimee Willmott
Fran Halsall
Hannah Miley
Jazz Carlin
Lauren Quigley
Siobhan-Marie O’Connor
Adam Peaty
Andrew Willis
Ben Proud
Calum Jarvis
Chris Walker-Hebborn
Duncan Scott
James Guy
Liam Tancock
Nick Grainger
Robbie Renwick
Ross Murdoch
Stephen Milne
The list of British athletes alone speaks to the caliber of competition set to descend upon the Royal Commonwealth Pool come March. Peaty is the reigning world record holder in the men’s long course 100m breaststroke and most recently earned two World Championship titles in Kazan. Guy rocked the freestyling world at the World Championships, scoring his first World title in the men’s 200m event. Both Guy and Renwick were also on the British 800m freestyle relay squad that upset the Americans to take home gold in Kazan.
Even more recently, Carlin topped the podium on two occasions at the 2015 European Short Course Championships in Netanya, Israel in early December. Carlin nabbed gold in her two signature distance events, the 400m and 800m freestyles.
On a broader geographical scope, Serbian breaststroker Caba Siladi is scheduled to make his second consecutive appearance at the meet, as is a Danish national team contingency. Siladi is coming off an impressive finals appearance from Kazan, where the Serb finished 8th in the men’s 50m breaststroke.
Americans Natalie Coughlin and Anthony Ervin have each attended the Edinburgh International Swim Meet in years past, however, their presence at this year’s event is yet to be confirmed.
Not only does the meet involve a prize pot of around £9,000, but the competition is included on FINA’s list of qualifying meets for the 2016 Olympic Games. Therefore, depending on individual country’s Olympic qualifying procedures, athletes from around the world may be attempting to snag their time cuts in an effort to punch their tickets to Rio this summer. As such, the meet schedule will mirror the Olympic order of events, yet also will also include an elimination-type sprinting contest.
British Swimming’s National Performance Director, Chris Spice, states that the meet will play ‘a critical part of our national racing strategy as we head toward the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. In 2015, this top-line domestic meet provided our British athletes with the preparation they needed prior to our best ever result at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan. The British national senior squad will again be in attendance in 2016.’
Additional information regarding the meet can be found here, with the deadline for entries falling on February 1st.